Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Sells 264 Shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,576 shares of the company’s stock after selling 264 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Ball were worth $1,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 10,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $556,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $745,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ball by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ball Stock Performance

BALL opened at $52.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.94. Ball Co. has a 52-week low of $48.95 and a 52-week high of $71.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $53.27 and its 200-day moving average is $59.61.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Ball had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 33.98%. Ball’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ball Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ball announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BALL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised Ball from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Ball from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.25.

Ball Company Profile

Ball Corporation supplies aluminum packaging products for the beverage, personal care, and household products industries in the United States, Brazil, and internationally. The company manufactures and sells aluminum beverage containers to fillers of carbonated soft drinks, beer, energy drinks, and other beverages.